Atma Prioritises Wellbeing

We at Atma have always been cognizant of the well-being of our stakeholders at all times. With the recent second COVID-19 outbreak, we recognise the rising pressure amongst our team and the community we serve. To begin with, the well-being of our team is of utmost importance to us. In the last week, we carried out an employee pulse survey to check on the wellbeing of our team members and to find possible solutions to support them in this trying time. The pulse check has helped us decide that the organisation at this point needs to slow down to help the team recalibrate and give them time to support their families and communities affected by the virus. Atma went into a slow down with a few days off and 2 weeks of shorter workdays to support their team members in finding time in dealing with the current situation. The team was given the following guidance to work through the slow down:

• Slowing the pace of work by getting their deliverable deadlines extended with the approval of their managers.
• Prioritising partner work in high need areas and external meetings
• Cutting short internal team meetings and manager check-ins

In addition to this, we do understand that the 1 year battle against the virus would potentially cause burnout for some of our team members. To tackle this, we have organised weekly well-being sessions bringing in experts specializing in Mental health, Yoga, and Ayurveda to support our team in building healthy coping mechanisms. We at Atma, also encourage open conversations for our team members to share their feelings and experiences. We feel the need to support the people in our organisation to get through this challenging time of uncertainty.

We also see it as our responsibility to serve our communities who have been facing similar challenges in this time. To support our community we have partnered with Apni Shala to build space for communities to come together to express their feelings and build solidarity in their shared experiences. The ‘Communities of Wellbeing’ is a virtual space of community wellbeing to overcome the challenges that the second wave of COVID-19 presents.

In addition to this, the Future of impact collaborative that Atma is part of is organising wellness circles for the non-profit community. ‘Wellness circles’ are an initiative to create a safe space for our community to come together during these challenging times.

If you would like to know more about Atma’s wellbeing initiatives please write to us at [email protected].